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Blair, in his first response to the councillor’s formal complaint against him, also tells the Star he was “deeply offended” by Mayor Rob Ford’s obscene Steak Queen video.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, sitting at his desk at headquarters, spoke to the Star on Wednesday about the official complaint made against him by Doug Ford, a city councillor and brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. (Randy Risling / Toronto Star)

Blair told the Star that after Lisi’s arrest on extortion charges on Oct. 31, the Etobicoke man said to investigators: “Your boss is going to get his this weekend.”

In an interview Wednesday, Blair responded for the first time to a complaint made against him by Councillor Ford that was recently referred to the provincial police watchdog, as well as multiple verbal attacks against him since June by both Ford brothers.

Toronto Police Services Board chair Alok Mukherjee told the Star earlier this week that the basis of Doug Ford’s complaint was that the chief acted inappropriately during an Oct. 31 press conference at which he announced the recovery of a video of the mayor appearing to smoke crack, when, in response to media questions, he said he was “disappointed.”

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The Office of the Independent Police Review Director is now investigating the complaint.

The morning Lisi was arrested, the Superior Court released a massive search warrant document revealing that police had been investigating the mayor for months and detailing his relationship with Lisi.

Later that day, Blair held the news conference to announce that Lisi had been arrested and that investigators had recovered the crack video. The video is now evidence in the extortion case against Lisi, who is accused of threatening two alleged gang members to get it.

The following week, Councillor Ford, speaking on AM640’s John Oakley show, called for Blair to take a leave of absence and accused him of being in a conflict of interest for going on a fishing trip with police board member Andy Pringle.

“(Blair) believes he’s the judge, the jury and the executioner. He wanted to go out and put a political bullet right between the mayor’s eyes, and thought that would be the final bullet to knock the mayor off, and he showed his cards — he thought he had a royal flush and . . . he had a couple pairs of deuces,” Ford said on the show.

The chief said police already knew the Ford attack on him was coming because of Lisi. Over that weekend, spokesperson Mark Pugash spoke to several media outlets on the chief’s behalf, Blair said.

“Quite frankly, the comments that Councillor Ford made . . . did not come as a surprise to me,” Blair said. “We had information from Mr. Lisi that those issues were going to be raised by them in the very near future . . . “I think it was in response to the information that was about to be released in the [search warrant document] by the courts.”

When contacted by the Star Wednesday, Doug Ford refused to comment.

“Maybe you have not heard yet we don’t talk to a trashy gossip rag paper like yours just my opinion,” he wrote in a text message.

Lisi’s lawyer, Domenic Basile, said he could not comment. Mayor Ford, who was in Ottawa for a conference, avoided reporter questions about Blair’s comments.

Councillor Ford has previously said he has “never met” Lisi.

“I support the police investigation. I don’t know this guy. Never seen him, never met him — ever,” the councillor told the Toronto Sun on Oct. 2, after Lisi was first charged with drug offences.

Blair said what occurred at the October press conference had already been discussed with the police board at a regular, private meeting, and there was no wrongdoing on his part identified.

“Certainly both the chair and I believe that my board was very supportive and approved of everything that had transpired,” Blair said, adding he has no issue with the OIPRD investigating the complaint.

“I was meticulously careful as well not to disclose any confidential information, or to comment on any confidential information that was available to me, so as not to, in any way, compromise the integrity of any future prosecution or any investigation that was ongoing.”

Blair said he was expressing disappointment at the news conference that information about the video’s discovery could create concern among citizens and negatively affect the city’s reputation.

The chief also spoke to the Star on Wednesday about other attacks lodged against him by the Fords — including one remark in particular.

In January, a video surfaced of the mayor, among other things, referring to Blair using obscene language at the Steak Queen restaurant in Etobicoke.

“It’s a filthy obscenity. It was a disgraceful thing to do. And I found it disgusting,” Blair said. “As I said at the time, and continue to maintain, I’m not going to be drawn down into the sewer by personal attacks. I was deeply offended by his remarks. My family heard that. My kids heard that. The people that I have served my entire life in the city of Toronto heard that.”

As a police officer of 37 years, Blair said, hearing that kind of insult is not unprecedented.

“Those type of things … you get used to it,” Blair said. “We’re going to continue to do our job.”

The chief said the investigation into Mayor Ford that led to Lisi’s charges — dubbed Project Brazen 2 — continues.

“I think they’ve still got work to do,” Blair said of his investigators, led by the homicide squad’s Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux.

Blair said he would not speculate on whether the mayor could or would be charged.

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